Chapter Three
Almost three years later…
After being fired, I settle into retirement, in a way. My life becomes a beige flow of days going one into the other. Instead of working or thinking, I consume media. Television, mostly.
I don’t even know what I’m watching when the breaking news banner flashes across the screen. But I’ll remember that banner forever.
Breaking News: A fire at the Ascent Laboratories facility has claimed the lives of dozens.
Images of the fire show the entire compound in flames, most of the buildings razed to the ground. According to the report, a series of explosions has resulted in the total physical destruction of the company, which for business and tactical reasons was based entirely in one location slightly outside the city.
Adam. He is the first and last thing I think about. As the television beams images of flame and destruction into my home, my heart sinks. He’s dead. He must be. If not today, perhaps years ago. Tears come to my eyes, as I begin to mourn what must have been a short and painful life. He deserved better than what he got. He deserved so much more. He deserved love and freedom, and the right to choose his destiny. He received none of that. We made him as a person, and they treated him like a thing.
It’s been a while since I cried for Adam, but the tears flow now without restraint until maybe twenty or so minutes later, a heavy knock at my door draws me from the couch. I answer the door, red-eyed and miserable. There are two authorities standing outside my door, clad in the pure black of the higher policing authority. These are the men you see when you’ve done something terribly, terribly wrong.
“Doctor Mallory?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
The one on the left scowls a question at me. “Ma’am, are you aware of the incident at Ascent Laboratories?”
I nod. “I haven’t worked there for a long time.”
“May we come in, Doctor?”
“Of course.”
My answer isn’t one of genuine hospitality. Of course they can come in. It would be illegal for me to refuse them entry.
I stand back as they walk into my home, their eyes running over every bit and piece of furniture. There’s not much. I never really got comfortable here, even though I have ample funds to do so. This glass-walled apartment with views of the city has felt more like an observation chamber. I know they’ve been watching me. And I know they encompasses a lot of people. Ascent have to keep tabs on me, of course. And then there’s the government. They don’t dare question me directly, but they want to know where I am.
They come and sit down on the plain white couch. I sit in the plain white chair and compose myself. I’m the image of a model citizen. My dark hair is cut neatly to my chin in the same bob haircut almost every woman has. When I step out into the flow of humanity, I am remarkably unremarkable.
“You’re aware that there has been a conflagration. But there’s more to it than that. This is highly classified and restricted information. Your silence is essential.”
I nod.
“The accident wasn’t so much an accident, as it was an escape. One of the projects broke out. We believe his code name was…” He looks down at his notebook and reads each of the letters aloud. “A D A M.”
Adam. Adam fucking survived, and he escaped. It’s all I can do not to scream with excitement. The expressions on their faces indicate that even my small smile is too much of a positive reaction.
“We’ve been lead to believe your termination was in large part due to your connection to this project,” the agent says.
I nod. “I didn’t agree with his treatment.”
“We have reason to believe he intends to hunt you down and exact his revenge. Before he left the facility, he inflicted serious, lethal wounds on each and every one of the team connected with his work. One of his victims lived long enough to tell us what he had done, and to say that he was looking for you.”
“Oh.”
I’m not sure what one is supposed to say when an agent tells you an angry cyborg wants to kill you, but oh about covers it for me.
“For your safety, we recommend coming with us now. You’ll be provided a secure facility and a laboratory in which to continue your work.”
“My work?”
“It’s evident that this prototype has potential in a variety of applications. We’d like you to come and resume your work on it.”
“I didn’t… I was only responsible for a very small part of it.”
I’m instantly on my guard. This isn’t about my safety at all. This about trying to get me on their team, use me for their purposes. They want to take me in. They want to imprison me. But I am not going to go into custody. I’d rather run from Adam than hide with them.
“I’ll take my chances.”
They look at one another, and I know they’re considering whether or not to put the cuffs on me.
“Sorry,” I say. “I just need to go to the bathroom.”
It’s the most transparent excuse in the world, but they don’t question it. They sit there and they let me walk out of the room. Of course I don’t go to the bathroom. I grab my handbag and I head right for the front door.
If Adam is out, maybe he does want to hurt me. But the government doesn’t care about protecting me, so whatever they want is going to be a bad deal. I’m sure they’ve just discovered what Ascent was up to all this time, and I’m sure they want in on it. I just became very hot property. A scientist with her spinal cord still intact and not being worn as a cyborg’s headpiece is a rare commodity now.
I’m almost sure Adam wouldn’t be that barbaric to me, but who knows what they did to him in the end. It has been years. Thousands of hours of pure brutality unleashed on the finest mind ever created. Maybe they did break him. If so, I am sure his capacity for cruelty will exceed my wildest imagination.
The only use I can think of for me, from the government’s perspective, is as bait. They know he wants me, so if they hold me, they can get to him.
I don’t know what’s become of Adam since I saw him. Maybe I helped create the worst monster the world has ever seen. If that’s the case, I’ll take responsibility for it on my own. I still know how to deal with a cyborg, even after all these years.